EN हिं

NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 10 Democracy — In-text Questions

Book page 159 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
But can all people actually rule?
Answer

No. The chapter answers immediately: “It is clearly not possible.”

Think of the numbers. India had some 970 million voters in 2024. If every one of them had to gather, listen to every argument and vote on every question, nothing would ever be decided — no hall could hold them, and a single debate would take years.

So a democracy does the one practical thing: the people choose a smaller number of persons to act for them.

All the people cannot meet and decide → so they elect representatives
Representatives meet in an assembly → discuss, debate and decide
This is called a representative democracy
Size of the groupHow decisions can be taken
A class of 40 students choosing a picnic placeEverybody votes — direct democracy (the show of hands on page 160)
A village gram sabhaAll adult villagers can attend and speak — still largely direct
A State of several crore peopleElected MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha
A country of 140 crore peopleElected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
Why this is still ‘rule of the people’: because the representatives do not own their seats — the people lend them. They are chosen in an election, they must answer to the voters, and they can be replaced at the next election. Between elections, citizens keep their say through the grassroots bodies you will study in the next two chapters. So the people rule; they simply do it through persons they have chosen.
Q2.
Will the entire class go to the principal?
Answer

No — “it would clearly not be practical.” This little example is the chapter’s way of explaining representation before it uses the word for a State or a country.

Imagine the whole class trying it: forty students crowding one small room, everyone talking at once, the principal unable to hear a single complete sentence, and forty classes disturbed while they wait outside. Nothing would be settled.

What actually happens, in the chapter’s words: “In many schools, classes have a ‘class monitor’ or ‘class representative’, whom the whole class elected; even if there is none, one representative can be selected for this specific purpose. It will be enough to send the representative to the principal.”

In the classroomThe same idea in the country
A problem the whole class shares — a broken window, a field-trip dateA problem a whole constituency shares — a road, a hospital, a school
The class elects a monitor or representativeThe people elect an MLA or an MP
The representative puts the class’s case to the principalThe member raises the matter in the Vidhan Sabha or in Parliament
The class first discusses what to ask forMembers “through dialogue and debate, try to convince each other whenever there are different opinions”
A representative who never speaks up is not chosen againElections come round again — that is the citizen’s check
Remember the two words that make it democratic: elected and accountable. A monitor picked by the class and answerable to the class is a representative; someone who simply takes charge is not.
Was this helpful? Report an error